Full Playoff TV Guide

The 2026 National Basketball Association playoffs opened Saturday, April 18, with every first-round game assigned to a network or streaming service in the league’s new media-rights setup. (nba.com) The first round started with four Game 1s on Saturday: Toronto Raptors at Cleveland Cavaliers at 1 p.m. Eastern, Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets at 3:30 p.m., Atlanta Hawks at New York Knicks at 6 p.m., and Houston Rockets at Los Angeles Lakers at 8:30 p.m. Eastern. Cleveland beat Toronto 126-113 in the opener, while the Lakers-Rockets nightcap aired on ABC and the first three games streamed on Prime Video. (nba.com) Sunday, April 19, adds four more Game 1s: Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics at 1 p.m. Eastern on ABC, Phoenix Suns at Oklahoma City Thunder at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on ABC, Orlando Magic at Detroit Pistons at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on NBC and Peacock, and Portland Trail Blazers at San Antonio Spurs at 9 p.m. Eastern on NBC and Peacock. (nba.com) The schedule reflects the first season of the NBA’s new 11-year media deal, which replaced TNT’s long playoff run with a split among ESPN and ABC, NBC and Peacock, and Amazon Prime Video. Sporting News said the play-in tournament moved entirely to Prime Video, while the NBA Finals remain on ABC. (sportingnews.com) That change means there is no single outlet carrying the full first round. Sporting News listed ABC, ESPN and NBC as the main television channels, with DIRECTV, the ESPN app, Peacock and Prime Video handling the streaming side depending on the game. (sportingnews.com) Yahoo’s viewing guide for DIRECTV customers said the service covers ABC, NBC and ESPN, but not Prime Video exclusives. The guide said fans who want every opening-round game still need access to Amazon’s service for the matchups carried there. (sports.yahoo.com) The bracket itself is set in the standard 2-2-1-1-1 format, with the better regular-season team hosting Games 1, 2, 5 and 7. ESPN’s playoff page listed Detroit Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder as the No. 1 seeds, with Boston-Philadelphia, New York-Atlanta, Cleveland-Toronto, Detroit-Orlando, Oklahoma City-Phoenix and San Antonio-Portland among the first-round pairings. (espn.com) The first round can run through Sunday, May 3, if any series goes seven games. The NBA said later-round dates will be added as postseason results lock in the bracket. (nba.com)